First Merchants Bank - The Martin Group

Challenge

First Merchants Bank came to The Martin Group for assistance with their paid search efforts in personal banking due to the bank’s high average cost per acquisition (CPA) for new checking account customers. Our primary task was to increase the number of incremental personal checking accounts opened online in a competitive industry. Our secondary objective was to drive down the average cost to acquire new online personal checking accounts from SEM. Additionally, our team was tasked with creating a strong pipeline of new, qualified leads to add to the bank’s inbound primary relationship acquisition sales funnel, and meeting or exceeding audience performance benchmark data through continuous campaign optimization.

Solution

After much discussion on how to best position the campaign for success, we landed on the bank’s brand differentiators – attentiveness and dependability, as well as the recognition of being a top bank in the Midwest by Forbes and Newsweek for outstanding customer service. On top of leveraging social proof, this messaging strategy helped decrease low-intent prospects by focusing on value-based brand differentiators rather than sign-up bonuses (which historically attracted lower-value customers). By conducting thorough market and keyword research, The Martin Group was also able to identify opportunities within each key market to reach high-value customers while maintaining a low overall cost per acquisition. We used a range of strategies to meet our campaign objectives, from paid media SEM ads on Microsoft Bing, SEM and display ads on Google Ads, customized landing pages, and interstitial pop-ups, to a series of automated emails to nudge and nurture leads. Initially, our team prioritized Microsoft Ads over Google Ads to reach qualified prospects in key markets while keeping search volume high and competition low. As demand in markets shifted, we pivoted budget and focused as needed to stay on top of search trends. Keyword, ad content, bid, and budget optimizations were consistently made within markets to leverage ad budgets effectively.

Results

Our efforts made a huge impact on the bank’s acquisitions and associated costs, significantly improving upper funnel performance and reducing promo code-related fees. The initial “Best Checking” campaign was so successful that First Merchants has since engaged The Martin Group to test SEM for other departments within the bank.
The Martin Group continues to partner with First Merchants Bank today and has expanded to work with numerous teams across the organization to grow account acquisition, lead generation, and keep a steady pipeline of upper-funnel prospects. These teams range from Private Wealth Investments to Community Lending Services, each with its own unique goals, challenges, and successes.
Additionally, we have also assisted with implementing end-to-end tracking for their online account software, enabling us to see the full user journey, including exactly which ad in Microsoft or Google led to conversion. The data that we are able to acquire through this tracking is immense and will be instrumental in the bank’s continued success.